Friday, January 19, 2007

LORAN May Be Decommissioned

Last week, the US Coast Guard, under the Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of Transportation, posted a notice requesting public input on whether GPS technology has made LORAN-C obsolete and whether or not it should be shelved. The LORAN, Long Range Aids to Navigation, system was brought online in the 1960's and was essentially GPS before there was GPS. Unlike the satellites used by GPS, LORAN relies on a series of radio towers along the coast to triangulate location. The basic Loran-C system consists of three or more land based transmitting stations, each separated by several hundred miles. Modern GPS systems provide highly accurate readings but LORAN only provides positioning to within 500 yards. While no one will argue that the system is nearly as useful as GPS, many feel that maintaining the LORAN-C system is important as a backup to GPS. If nothing else, old and salty offshore fishing veterans are sure to feel a little nostalgic about the system and many still use LORAN lines in conversation today. More on the debate is available from the Jacksonville Daily News; comments may be submitted to the US DOT; everything you ever wanted to know about LORAN is available from the Coast Guard.

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